Prefabricated building panel

ABSTRACT

Prefabricated building panels combine new and unexpected element dimensions and materials with the effect of reducing overall weight and depth while simultaneously improving panel performance such as thermal insulation. As compared to former panels, prefabricated building panels according to exemplary embodiments of the invention generally include thinner concrete slabs, wider separations between concrete and support framing, and new material choices for anchors connecting slabs with framing. Exemplary panels are compliant with energy codes such as the latest ASHRAE and IECC.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally pertains to prefabricated building panels and,more particularly, energy code compliant panels with performanceimprovement and cost and material reductions.

BACKGROUND

Prefabricated building panels are a popular implement in today'sconstruction industry, especially for commercial applications. Labortime and costs associated with welding and bolting, for example,significantly increase the cost of traditional construction wherebyindividual materials (e.g., external siding, insulation, supportframing, etc.) are generally arranged and assembled at the job site.Mixing concrete at the job site includes labor costs as well as downtime to permit the concrete to set. These and similar costs have beensomewhat reduced in recent years by the development and increased use ofprecast concrete and, in particular, prefabricated building panels whichcombine precast concrete with other materials such as insulation andsupport framing. These panels are generally built and assembled at anoff site location and then transported to the construction site, readyfor installation. At the job site, the panels are hoisted and moved intoposition on the incomplete building structure. Once in position,construction workers may then bolt and/or weld the panels to thebuilding frame and/or floor and to one another to fix them in theirfinal locations.

Despite the advantages identified above, known prefabricated buildingpanels are far from ideal. Existing panels tend to be very heavy,typically in the range of 90 lbs per square foot, and in all casesrequire heavy machinery such as cranes to lift and maneuver at the jobsite. In general, the design of prefabricated building panels is achallenging puzzle of inseparable pros and cons. For example, in orderto support the weight of itself and potentially other building elements(e.g., roofing, neighboring panels, etc.), the concrete must be quitethick, generally 6 or more inches. The height of many present daycommercial buildings means wind speeds also become a criticalconsideration and further require increased material thicknesses forgreater strength. While thicker concrete improves the strength of apanel, it obvious greatly increases the weight and volume of the panel,both effects being highly undesirable.

Newer energy codes for buildings, especially renovations and newconstruction, continue to set more stringent performance criteria. Asnew codes go into effect, the construction industry is faced with a needfor new alternatives which strike the difficult balance of such factorsas weight, size (e.g., panel thickness), thermal insulation, strength(e.g., as measured in psi or maximum incident wind speed), and materialcosts.

SUMMARY

New energy codes such as the latest ASHRAE and IECC are met byprefabricated building panels which combine materials with unexpectedspecifications (e.g., material thicknesses) and performance. These newpanels represent a new class of panels with performance characteristicswhich only emerge from the combination of their constituent parts.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a prefabricated building panelcomprises a concrete slab having a thickness equal to or less than 2inches; a plurality of stainless steel anchors permanently imbedded inthe concrete slab; framing permanently secured to the concrete slab bythe plurality of stainless steel anchors for structural reinforcement,the plurality of stainless steel anchors maintaining a spacing betweensaid concrete slab and said framing of 0.5 to 3 inches; and a continuousinsulation which fills at least 0.5 to 3 inches of the spacing betweenthe concrete slab and the framing. Other exemplary embodiments withalternative or additional features are also disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side profile section view of a prefabricated building panel;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the prefabricated building panel shown inFIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view of an inner face of a prefabricated building panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Prefabricated building panels are discussed herein as having twoopposite and substantially parallel faces. For panels ultimatelyinstalled as part of a building exterior, an “outer face” refers to theside of a panel which faces outward from the building afterinstallation.

For most panels, the “outer face” will comprise concrete or a façadebehind which is concrete. An “inner face” refers the side of the panelwhich faces inward toward the building interior after installation.These terms are nominal only and are not intended to limit theapplications or use of the panels described herein. Panels having an“outer face” and “inner face” may be installed on a building exterior orin interior spaces of a building, where interior spaces of the buildingare to both sides of the panel.

Referring now the drawings, and in particular FIGS. 1 and 2, there isshown a prefabricated building panel (i.e. “panel”) 100. At a minimum,an exemplary panel 100 comprises at least one concrete slab 101, framing102, anchors 103 which connect and maintain a fixed spatial relationshipbetween the concrete slab 101 and framing 102, and insulation 104.

At a broad level, a panel 100 differs significantly from existingprefabricated building panels such as that which is disclosed by U.S.Pat. No. 5,699,644 for a number of combined features, including but notlimited to: a comparatively thinner concrete slab, a comparatively widerspacing between the concrete slab and the framing, and anchors which aremade of stainless steel.

In some exemplary embodiments, concrete slab 101 preferably has athickness 110 equal to or less than 2 inches, and most preferably equalto or less than 1.5 inches (see FIG. 1). The thickness 110 may be in therange of 1.5 to 2 inches, including the particular sizes of 1.5 or 2inches. To persons of ordinary skill in the art, such thicknesses toconcrete slab 101 would be prohibited on account of their reducedstrength as compared to known slab thicknesses for prefabricatedbuilding panels. However, the reduction in concrete slab thicknessaccording to the present application has the advantageous effect ofreducing the weight of the panel and thus the maximum load capacity thepanel 100 must be equipped to support. In some embodiments, it isfurthermore advantageous for concrete slab 101 to comprise an unusuallyhigh fiber content (e.g., glass fiber, synthetic fiber, etc.). Thesefiber loads are greater than fiber loads for existing prefabricatedbuilding panels. The high fiber content of concrete slabs 101 of panels100 provides improved crack control and resistance to wind forces.

In exemplary embodiments, framing 102 may be, for example, galvanizedsteel studs or similar supporting members. C-shaped studs or beams arewell suited for this application, but other alternatives supplying thesame supportive functionality may occur to those of skill in the art andare likewise employable in the practice of the invention. In exemplaryembodiments, individual studs or beams of framing 102 are assembledusing automobile assembly spot-welding. Unique to panel 100 overprefabricated building panels known in the art is the feature thatframing 102 comprises a plurality of parallel beams which may be spacedapart by spacing 120 at least as large as 4 feet. Older panels such asthat which is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,644 necessitated adjacentparallel beams be spaced apart no more than 2 feet. In the older panels,separation exceeding 2 feet would generally compromise the requiredstructural integrity of the overall panel; the reduced amount of framingwould be insufficient to support the weight of the comparatively verythick concrete slabs. In light of the thinness and resulting lightnessof concrete slabs 101 in panel 100, spacing 120 between adjacent beamsof framing 102 may exceed 2 feet, 2.5 feet, 3 feet, 3.5 feet, up to atleast 4 feet. As compared to existing panels such as that which isdisclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,644, a panel 100 may also have studs orbeams of framing 102 which are smaller in width 150. Width 150 offraming 102 may be 6 inches or less, 5 inches or less, or 4 inches orless. Width 150 may be in the range of 4 inches to 6 inches.

Framing 102 is permanently secured to concrete slab 101 by a pluralityof anchors 103 which, in exemplary embodiments, are stainless steel. Asshown in the drawings, some exemplary embodiments of a panel 100 aremanufactured such that a head of each anchor 103 is permanently imbeddedin the concrete of slab 101. The opposite end of each anchor 103 iswelded to framing 102. In an assembled state, a panel 100 has a spacing130 between the concrete slab 101 and the nearest framing 103 of 0.5inch to 3 inches. In some exemplary embodiments, spacing 130 is at least1.5 inches. In still further exemplary embodiments, spacing 130 ispreferably at least 2 inches or most preferably at least 2.5 inches ormore. Spacing 130 is fixed and maintained by the anchors 103, thesebeing imbedded in the concrete slab 101 and welded to framing 102.

Known prefabricated building panels have anchors, bolts, or screws whichare generally made of regular steel (i.e., not stainless steel). Theprovision of stainless steel anchors 103 in exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention is particularly advantageous over the existing art forat least the reason that stainless steel is approximately 38% lessthermally conductive as compared to regular steel. As a result, there isless heat transfer between the inner face and outer face of the panel100.

Insulation 104 is arranged between concrete slab 101 and framing 102. Inexemplary embodiments, insulation 104 is a continuous insulation. Thethrough penetration of anchors 103 through insulation 104 does notdisqualify it from being accurately described as “continuous”.Insulation 104 fills at least some of the spacing 130 and, in mostexemplary embodiments, fills an entirety of the spacing 130.Geometrically, the thickness of insulation 104 within spacing 130 cannotexceed the span of spacing 130. However, the thickness 140 of insulation104 (see FIG. 2) may exceed the span of spacing 130 where the insulationis partially disposed to a side of a beam (e.g., between adjacent beams)of framing 102. In FIG. 2, thickness 140 of insulation 104 is clearlygreater than spacing 130, which in the illustrated embodiment issubstantially filled by insulation 104. Thickness 140 may be as large asthe sum of the span of spacing 130 and framing width 150.

The span of spacing 130 is unexpectedly large in contrast to existingpanels such as that which is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,644. Owingto insulation 104 being of a thickness equal to or greater than the spanof spacing 130 in exemplary embodiments, weightbearing support of thepanel 100 is provided in part by the thick rigid volume of insulation104. This reduces the maximum load which concrete slab 101 is requiredto bear, permitting the concrete slab to be even thinner than would bepermitted with insulation having a comparative small thickness (e.g., 1inch or less).

For some embodiments, a panel 100 may further include furring or hatchannels 106 and/or gypsum board (i.e. drywall) 107. Traditional panelshave an inner face consisting of only insulation and framing, andmaterials such as gypsum board must be installed on the job site afterthe panels have been maneuvered and fixed into their final positions onthe building structure. In contrast, some embodiments of the presentinvention include channels 106 and gypsum board 107 (as is indicated bythe dashed portion of the curvy bracket associated with referencenumeral 100 in FIG. 1) to reduce the installation time and thus costsassociated with work at the job site.

Panels 100 may take a variety of dimensions, including different widths160 and heights 170 (see FIG. 3). A particular advantage of a panel 100is its depth 180. Generally, depth 180 is determined as the sum of theconcrete slab thickness 110, the span of spacing 130, and the framingstud width 150. If, for example, these were 1.5 inches, 2.5 inches, and4 inches, respectively, the depth 180 of the panel 100 would be 8.0inches.

While an exemplary application of panels 100 is for exterior walls, somepanels 100 or variations thereof may also be used for other purposesincluding but not limited to interior walls, flooring, or roofing.

While exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been disclosedherein, one skilled in the art will recognize that various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the scope of theinvention as defined by the following claims.

1. A prefabricated building panel, comprising: a concrete slab having athickness equal to or less than 2 inches; a plurality of stainless steelanchors permanently imbedded in said concrete slab; framing including aplurality of studs or beams permanently secured to said concrete slab bysaid plurality of stainless steel anchors for structural reinforcement,said plurality of stainless steel anchors maintaining a spacing betweensaid concrete slab and said framing of at least 2.0 inches; and acontinuous insulation which fills said spacing between said concreteslab and said framing of at least 2.0 inches and extends between thewebs of adjacent studs or beams of said framing so that a totalinsulation thickness is greater than the size of said spacing, whereinsaid continuous insulation supplies weight bearing support to theprefabricated building panel. 2-3. (canceled)
 4. The prefabricatedbuilding panel of claim 1, wherein said spacing between said concreteslab and said framing is at least 2.5 inches.
 5. The prefabricatedbuilding panel of claim 1, wherein said thickness of said concrete slabis between 1.5 and 2 inches.
 6. The prefabricated building panel ofclaim 1, wherein said plurality of beams or studs are spaced apart atintervals of more than 2 feet and up to 4 feet.
 7. The prefabricatedbuilding panel of claim 1, wherein said plurality of studs or beams ofsaid framing each have a width of 6 inches or less.
 8. The prefabricatedbuilding panel of claim 7, wherein said width of each of said pluralityof studs or beams is 4 to 6 inches.
 9. The prefabricated building panelof claim 1, wherein said plurality of stainless steel anchors are weldedto said framing.
 10. The prefabricated building panel of claim 1,wherein said plurality of studs or beams include C-shaped studs orbeams, the continuous insulation extending between the webs of adjacentC-shaped studs or beams.
 11. The prefabricated building panel of claim1, wherein said continuous insulation has a thickness equal to the sumof said spacing and the width of said plurality of studs or beams.